Filming North Korea’s Film Industry

After winning approval to make a film in Pyongyang about North Korea’s movie industry, Singapore-based independent filmmakers James Leong and Lynn Lee faced a dilemma. The approval came with conditions, one of which was a review of all of their footage by North Korean censors.

After much deliberation they decided to go ahead, and in making “The Great North Korean Picture Show” were given access to Pyongyang’s main movie studios, which includes sets that are built to resemble South Korea and the U.S. The movie, now available on demand on Vimeo.com, also features interviews with star director Pyo Hang and actors in training.

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The 94-minute feature has been shown at various film festivals. Some reviewers have questioned how much of what the couple were allowed to film was staged. But perhaps the strongest aspect of the film was exactly that they showed propaganda in the making, and the real passions and emotions that generates.

Korea Real Time spoke to the couple about how they came to make the film, the challenges involved and ultimately how happy they were with it.

KRT: Why did you want to do a documentary on this theme?

Our documentary, ‘Aki Ra’s Boys’ was invited to the Pyongyang International Film Festival in 2008. It was there that we first learnt about the North Korean film industry. The movie stars and directors we met told us their primary role was to serve their leaders and craft messages that would glorify them. They viewed themselves as creators of propaganda, rather than makers of entertainment. It was fascinating on numerous levels. We felt we wanted to learn more.

KRT: Who did you contact and negotiate with over the plans?

We started talking about the idea while we were in Pyongyang and had a lot of support from a young North Korean film enthusiast working for Korfilm, the organizers of the festival. In many ways, he was the one who made filming in North Korea a reality for us. It wasn’t easy though and the process took months.

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KRT: What problems did you run into while filming, other than having to submit everything for review?

We visited North Korea four times over the course of a year. Arranging the trips wasn’t easy and there were times when we didn’t know, even up till the day of our scheduled departure if we were going to get visas. We were also affected by geopolitical tensions. One of our trips had to be postponed because of the (November 2010) shelling of South Korea’s Yeongpyeong island by North Korea.

We also had to strike a balance between dealing with censorship and making a film that was credible. In order to get permission to shoot, we had to agree to certain rules. Our North Korean fixers had taken considerable risks in helping us arrange our shoots. We felt it would be unconscionable to get them in trouble by willfully breaking the rules.

Some audiences make the mistake of thinking that the censors had final say on the actual film. This is incorrect. Their job wasn’t to help shape the documentary. Their job was to look at our footage to make sure we didn’t run off and do anything that was unscheduled. As long as we stuck to our schedule, we given plenty of leeway to film whatever we wanted. The one exception was the Film Museum. We ran into problems over the way we ‘framed’ images of North Korea’s leaders.

KRT: Was anything else cut other than the footage of the pictures and inscriptions by Kim Jong Il that you didn’t film straight on at the museum?

Mainly images that they felt were ‘unflattering’. For instance, shots of bicycles on the road, or of young extras playing cards while waiting for their turn to go on set. There was footage that the censors wanted to exclude, but which they ultimately allowed because we argued hard for the inclusion. The blackouts for example, were initially disallowed.

KRT: The female acting student and family you profile seem very comfortable with the camera. How did you get to film them?

We only got to meet Yun Mi’s family during our final trip to Pyongyang. By then, we had already known her for nearly a year, so she was quite comfortable with having cameras follow her around. Yun Mi was part of a small group of students we met early on in our shoot. Her teacher suggested we interview her because she had had to overcome her parents’ objection in order to be an actress. We think her privileged background was perhaps another reason for his recommendation.

KRT: How happy are you with the end result?

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Lynn Lee and James Leong

As filmmakers, we wish we didn’t have to follow the rules imposed on us. We wish visas weren’t such a big problem and we were able to have more time with each of our subjects. Still, we’re glad we were able to open a small window into a world most people outside North Korea would otherwise never see. One of the things we said to each other when we were editing was that we thought audiences would not know what to make of the film. What was the truth? What was a ‘show’? How do people deal with being surrounded by so much propaganda and yet maintain their own identities? If we’ve managed to make some people at least, think about North Korea in a more nuanced way, then yes, we’re happy.